The use of botanical extracts such as seaweed in organic fertilizers has been well known for years and has been successfully developed in the USA and Europe. It is also known that proline is beneficial for improving shoot organogenesis. A natural source of proline and proline precursors can be obtained from fish protein hydrolysates (FPH), a byproduct of the fishery industry. FPH is employed in compositions described herein to stimulate proline synthesis and shoot organogenesis by exploiting the proline-linked pentose phosphate pathway (PPP). In the presence of elevated levels of proline, stimulation of cytokinins and auxin occurs via the PPP and shikimate pathways, respectively. Treatments with FPH significantly increases the endogenous proline content and the extent of development. See, e.g., Milazzo M C, Shetty K., et al., J. Agric. Food Chem., 47(4):1771 (1999).
Genetically modified plants and produce engineered to enhance value-added traits are generally not well-accepted by buyers and consumers in industrialized nations. Moreover, consumers are generally more receptive to organically grown fruits, vegetables and plants in general. Accordingly, a cost-effective solution to meeting the demand for organically grown produce having enhanced agronomic traits would be valuable indeed.